Chasing Eternity
by TheWaffleMaker
Summary: Hiccup had managed to keep his friendship with the Night Fury a secret from the other Vikings-until Astrid, who was tired of losing in Dragon Training to Hiccup, decided to take matters into her own hands, and follow him out to wherever he disappeared to every day. After being forced to leave however, he finds something that could endanger the lives of everyone in his old home.
1. About That Dragon

**Greetings, citizens of Earth**

**First off, the cover image is one of the lovely paintings from the end of How To Train Your Dragon 2. I do not own it, nor do I own How To Train Your Dragon (as much a I wish I did...).**

Astrid hurled her axe at a nearby tree in fury, yelling a war cry as she did so, imagining that the axe had sunk into a dragon, and not wood. She couldn't believe that idiot Hiccup had showed her up again today with that stupid Terrible Terror. It wasn't fair how that stick of a Viking had managed to do better than she had in Dragon Training. She trained every day, had trained since nearly birth, and as far as she was concerned, Hiccup hadn't practiced killing a dragon a day in his life. Yet the incompetence she would have expected from him wasn't there, which confused and frustrated her.

Even worse was that an infinitesimal part of her _liked _him. It was mortifying, but the truth was that she had had the smallest of all crushes on Hiccup. Which was stupid-he couldn't even lift an axe, for Odin's sake. Yet it was still there, soft and insistent whenever she thought of him.

Astrid yanked her axe from the tree, and went to throw it again, but paused. There stood Hiccup, holding a leather bundle of some sort, and watching her awkwardly. Then, as if he hadn't seen Astrid, turned and continued on his way.

She crept up behind a rock and peeked over the side. Was this where he disappeared to every afternoon, the reason he had suddenly excelled at Dragon Training? Astrid looked around, even though there was no one else around,and then quietly stole after Hiccup.

Hiccup had slinked away after seeing Astrid, and once he was out of sight, broke into a jog, although the bundle in his hands made it more of an awkward half-run. Finally, he reached the cove, and slid down the rocks. "Hey, Toothless! Today's the big day!"

The black dragon sidled out from a cave in the rocks, blinking at Hiccup with his large green eyes. Hiccup held up the bundle that was Toothless' tailfin. He had modified it just a bit the night before, replacing one of the metal rods that had gotten a bit bent in all of the flying-well, crashing- they had done. His sheet of wing positions was held safely in his hand, ready to be used on today's flight.

It took a bit of running to get the prosthetic on Toothless-he was still _very_ resistant to the idea of someone riding him, but more quickly than usual, he allowed the tailfin to be strapped on.

Hiccup swung himself up into the saddle, his heart pounding. "Are you ready, bud?" He asked, patting the dragon. Toothless snorted, and shook his head sharply. Hiccup's heart was pounding as he directed the dragon out of the cove. "Let's do this."

Stoick cursed himself again as the half-sinking viking ship floated into the docks, holes blasted through the sides from the Monstrous Nightmares that had attacked them. He stepped off of the boat onto the wood planking of the dock, and Gobber, Berk's blacksmith and Stoick's best friend, was immediately beside him.

"I trust you found the nest at least?" He asked, trying to sound upbeat despite the dejected atmosphere.

"Not even close." Stoick sighed. "I hope you had a little more success."

Gobber shrugged. "Well, if by success you mean that your parenting troubles are over then...yes."

At that moment, a flood of the vikings came down to greet their chief, all calling out to him.

"Congratulations, Stoick!"

"Everyone is _so_ relieved."

"Out with the old, and in with the new, right!"

"No one will miss that old nuisance."

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate!" One of them clapped him on the shoulder, and continued on his way down the docks.

Stoick turned to Gobber sharply. "He's gone?"

Gobber nodded, lips pursed as if trying to conceal a smile. "Yeah, most afternoons. But, I mean, who can blame him, the life of a celebrity is very rough. He can hardly walk through the village without being swarmed by his new fans."

Stoick stopped, and grabbed his friend by the shoulders. "_Hiccup_?"

Gobber's face lit up. "Who would have thought it, eh? He has this way with the beasts."  
>Suddenly, a slim blonde form skidded to a halt in front of them. "Stoick, I...need to talk to you." Astrid was breathing heavily, as if she had just run a large distance.<p>

"What is it?" Stoick asked, sensing the concern in Astrid's voice.

"Hiccup, I saw him...he..."

"What? What is it?"

"A dragon." Astrid looked up at the chief with terrified eyes. "Stoick, there was Night Fury."

His heart missed a beat. "Where?" He snapped. "Is he still alive, do you know?"

"Yes, yes, he's fine. It's just..." Astrid bit her lip.

"What?!"

"Stoick...Hiccup was...riding the Night Fury.

"_What?_"

"Yes, he was riding it, he was _playing_ with it, he..." She trailed off as Stoick's face darkened.

When he spoke, it was with the low voice of someone trying very hard to control themself. "I think I need to speak with my son."

Hiccup was sitting at his desk, his head resting against it. He flicked a pencil up his desk, and when it rolled down again, he pushed it up again. Someone came into the room, and he sat up quickly.

"Dad, dad, hi...dad." He began moving the papers on his desk into a pile-papers with drawings of Toothless and his prosthetic.

"How long did you think you could keep this a secret?"  
>Hiccup's heart jumped into his throat. "Oh dad, I was going to tell you but-"<p>

"Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it. So...let's talk about that dragon."

Hiccup's hand slipped on his desk. "Gods, I was going to tell you, dad, but I just...I didn't know how."

"How could you _do_ this, Hiccup? Abandon our tribe, abandon your birthright."

"I..." Hiccup took a deep breath. "I found a dragon, the day when I said that I had shot down a Night Fury. I really had. But, when I went to go kill it...I couldn't. He looked so scared dad, I couldn't..." His voice cracked a bit and he trailed off.

"Why, Hiccup? When we have given you everything?"

A sudden anger flared to life in Hiccup's chest. "Everything? You've given me everything but compassion, everything but caring and acceptance. Anytime I tried to do something you immediately shot it down. I was never given a chance to prove myself!"

"Don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration?" Stoick asked, raising a bushy red eyebrow.

"No!" Hiccup said, his voice growing in volume. "No, I don't." He scoffed, although he was holding back tears that he would not allow to show. "'Worst Viking Berk has ever seen!', And you don't even care that I get beat up almost every day. I don't have any friends, except one, and who cares if it's a dragon, because my own people don't want me. I'm useless to everyone except Toothless, and you are _not_ going to take my best friend away from me!" Hiccup was screaming by then, and when he paused was breathing heavily.

His father looked shocked for a moment. Then his face solidified into an unreadable expression. "Fine then. You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not a Viking. You're not my son."  
>Hiccup's eyes widened in shock and pain. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead just shot a glare at his father.<p>

His parting words before running out of the room were, "Then I don't want to be."


	2. The Dragon's Nest

**Greetings!  
>Wow that's a lot of followsfavorites. Thanks you guys! **

**Yes, I do understand that the timeline on this story is a bit altered from the canon. But considering that the plot itself is canon-divergent, some allowances can be made, I think. ****Creative License and all...**

Chapter Two-The Dragon's Nest

Hiccup ran through the woods, branches slapping against his face as he blindly pushed through them. Tears slid unforbidden down his cheeks as he raced for the cove, praying that Toothless was alright.

His boots skidded down the rocks, and he burst out into the clearing. "Toothless!" He yelled, looking around.

The Night Fury was there-surrounded by five Vikings all brandishing weapons. Toothless jumped towards one of them, and he shied away. Another of them seemed to gather up the courage, and charged the dragon, yelling a war cry as he did so.

"Toothless look out!" Hiccup warned, sprinting towards the conflict. Toothless snarled and screeched at the Vikings, who stumbled back as the fifteen year old boy reached the dragon.

"Hiccup, get away!" Hiccup ignored him, sliding into the saddle.

"Are you okay bud?" He murmured, and the dragon nodded once, brusquely. "Come one, we have to go, we can't stay here."

Toothless tensed before accelerating into the air with a powerful beating of his wings, Hiccup casting one more glance at his home, and the Vikings below watched with a mixture of fascination and horror as the young Viking disappeared on the back of the dragon of nightmares.

Hiccup leaned against Toothless' body, the warmth surrounding him against the cold night air. "It's okay, bud, it's okay."

Toothless shook his head quickly, as if shaking something off.

Hiccup looked up at the clouds passing by them, tears burning behind his eyes. He was used to concealing them, but here, where there was no one here but his best friend, he let them fall down his face and into the ocean below.

Rocky spires jutted from the sea beneath him before Hiccup finally couldn't cry anymore. What had happened? How had his father found out about Toothless?

Suddenly, Toothless' ears pricked up, and he looked around as though looking for something.

"What's wrong, bud?" Hiccup asked. Toothless dived towards the ocean, and into the thick fog that shrouded it, weaving in between the stone pillars of Helheim's gate. Other forms, other dragons, appeared in the gloom, and Hiccup gazed around half in horror, half in wonder.

Leaning in low, he shifted the prosthetic tailfin to allow Toothless to go wherever it was he was going unimpeded. And it soon became apparent what his destination was.

A large mountain loomed out in the fog, and Toothless headed straight for it, swooping up the side and following the contours of the rocky surface before heading into the top. Heat blasted Hiccup as he realized that this was no mountain-this was a volcano.

"What's happening, Toothless?" He pat the dragon concernedly, but Toothless ignored him. Finally, he curved around, and landed on a small shelf, sheltered by rocks. A few at a time, the other dragons dropped sheep or fish or some other sort of food down the mouth of the volcano.

"Well, that's nice to know that all of our food is being dumped down a hole." Hiccup murmured softly.

The stream of dragons died down a bit, until only a single Gronckle remained. It opened its mouth, and out slid a single fish, barely large enough to be called a fish. Giving itself a complacent scratch, it began to move away.

A low roar started from beneath Hiccup and Toothless, and all of the dragons clinging to the rocks that ringed the mouth of the volcano shrank back against the wall.

From the depths of the mountain rose a dragon...at least, it looked like a dragon. It was unlike anything Hiccup had ever seen. It's eyes were bigger than his head, and it opened its monstrous maw, swallowing the Gronckle whole.

Whatever it was, Hiccup didn't want to stay around it any longer. "Come on, Toothless, let's get out of here."  
>The Night Fury needed no further urging, and shot up towards the top of the volcano. However, the large dragon must have sensed something, or heard his small remark, because it rose up again, mouth opening in preparation to swallow another dragon. All of the other dragons roosting at the nest swirled up towards the top, blocking Hiccup and Toothless' way out, but in a last burst of effort, they shot upward just as the dragon-monster snapped its mouth shut, narrowly missing them, but cutting a Zippleback in half.<p>

Hiccup's heart was pounding when they finally emerged into the sky. The large dragon didn't seem to want to leave its nest inside the volcano, and he was fine with that.

_This must be why the dragons are attacking Berk!_ He thought. _To feed that...queen dragon._

He had to tell his father-he would want to know, to stop the raids, and to stop the lives lost of both dragons and Vikings.

But he had been disowned, and had he stayed longer, probably would have been exiled. And if he did go back, they would kill Toothless.

Hiccup set his jaw. "No." He said aloud. The Vikings had already tried to kill Toothless, and he wouldn't allow them to try again. Making up his mind, Hiccup steered Toothless back towards where he thought Berk was, and they shot off into the night.


End file.
